Manor House has a border and it is ready to quilt

We have been having lots of rain recently, so more time spent indoors. I found some dark grey fabric in my stash, enough for all the flying geese which form the inner border of the quilt.

For the corner squares of the main border I am using bird motifs from 

one of the fabrics used in the quilt.

With so much rain everything is looking lush, and when the sun comes out (which is not very often now), the garden is buzzing with bees.

 

So, one last press,

and it is ready to be put together

to be quilted.

I was unsure which colour to use for the quilting; grey would had been the obvious choice,

 but in the end I decided on light gold, which I think will work quite well here. 

  

This is little too early, I know, but I have also decide on the fabric for the binding; 

this deep wine matches one of the colours used in the applique.

All ready to quilt, but as I am going to do it by hand, now is not the time, 

it is too warm to have a quilt on my lap. 

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

........................more of Manor House

I have now joined all 4 sections - rather long for my washing line.

I ordered more of the background fabric for the borders, it arrived Monday, but they sent a wrong one.

Fortunately it was resolved the same day, and today the correct one arrived in the post, hurrah!

I also found reduced fabric online for the backing; should had been light grey. What arrived is not something I would call light grey, more like light khaki, but it is for the back of a wallhanging (not often seen), so I shall go with it - it was cheap; so there is a lesson 😏

Actually, since I wrote this, I contacted the supplier about the colour not being what I expected, 

they called back within a couple of hours, agreeing with me re rather bad colour description and informed that they are sending out another 3 m in better grey; despite the fact I offered to return the original I was told to keep it for another project! Nice people.....😊

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

FNwF and another month

This year is moving along in an alarming rate; one day we might think of this year as a lost one - or possibly not, depending on how many quilts, socks, jumpers or other projects we have made during this time.

Friday night was that time again - to virtually meet up with others at Cheryll's, who very kindly lends us her blog for monthly "hang outs".

What was I doing? After a rather wet mid week, the sun came out and it got very hot again. The result was that Friday evening turned out to be very pleasantly warm and so we stayed outside longer than normally and while the light permitted, I worked on the last applique part of the Manor House quilt, nearly finishing it, I just stitched the last leaf on yesterday morning.

The next step will be two borders, but those will have to be done inside, as the sewing machine will be engaged - not my favourite pass time at this time of year, I prefer to be outside.

With some rain and sun, our little garden it looking rather lush; this has been our oasis since spring.

Last weekend our family got together in our daughter's garden, to celebrate all those birthdays missed during the lock down - 4 of them, including mine. We all chipped in with food; I made a summer cake, which I first made last summer; made with almonds and honey instead of sugar. I have come to a conclusive that apricots work much nicer here than nectarines.  

Once cut, it went rather quickly, before I had time to take a picture of a slice.

I am off outside again, to make few more 2 in hexies!

I hope this post will come out OK, I am trying to get in to grips with the Blogger version 😕

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

more of Manor House quilt

I am now working on the last block of the main part of the quilt; there are 3 applique motifs on this one, and I have now finished 2 of them.

The 3rd one has branches with loads of leaves, so I am bracing myself......

We had loads of rain yesterday, very good for the garden and our water buts have been replenished.

I think this is a lovely and unusual new addition to our dahlia bed.

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

more of Manor House

I have finished 3rd part of Manor House quilt,  but as I haven't been sewing them in the order given, it is actually no 1 in the pattern;

and this how the 3 finished parts look joined together:

part 4, the last applique part of this quilt will be at the bottom. 

If you are following Mary Corbet (known mainly for her embroideries), you may have seen her other project she is working on - EPP project - hexies. She is making loads of 3/4 " hexies and storing them, with the idea of eventually making them into a quilt.

As we know, EPP is so easy and portable; this has prompt me to start a similar one.

We all probably have small bits of fabric around; I keep even very small bits for my applique work, stash them in a box, which gets frequently forgotten. So, I am slowly going through my small bits stash and cutting them up into 2" squares, if I can (some pieces are too small even for that).

I like the way Mary has organised her work, using a large pencil case for taking her bits around with her.

Although I am not planning on travelling any time soon, it is still a good idea for just taking it in and out of the house.

I have managed to find a similar pencil case (it is very roomy inside) and started to collect necessary tools.

She is using  "Really Useful" boxes for storing finished hexies.
I am rather
addicted to the "Really Useful Boxes" company, my work room is full of their boxes, I always seem to pick up one or two at shows. So practical, they are see through, and stack up, so it is always so easy to see what is in them. So yes, I am up there with her!

This is going to be a very random project, with no particular colour scheme in mind, a good filler when I don't feel like doing anything else, and eventually there just may be enough to make something.............

Rather strange weather in this part of the world, not one thing or another; just when you think it could be a day stitching outside, some rain appears, just enough to spoil it.
But there is always something to do...
Another enjoyable book from Jojo Moyes - about Horseback Librarian programme in Kentucky before WWII ( and a love story thrown in, of course!)

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

just a quick update

This was my outside sewing corner a week ago; since then a big change in the weather forced us back indoors,

so I have been binging on "Outlander" DVDs while sewing indoors;

I have now finished the second part of the Manor House quilt top.

There is nothing else new to report; more shops are opening; only one of our grandchildren has been back to school - one afternoon every 2 weeks (worrying considering she will be sitting her GCSE exams next year), the younger has not yet been back (but they have been having some lessons online). Pubs and restaurants can open from this weekend (with many difficulties) and I have a hairdresser appointment for later this month!!!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

Midsummer

Happy Midsummer to all in the north part of the Globe; I always feel little sad because it means that from now on we will be loosing a little bit of the daylight every day, and specially as we have been looking forward to this summer so much!

We have had lots of rain during the past week, very welcome, our little garden has much fresher look and lots of colour coming through.

I am now working on the second part of the Manor House quilt,

I like the fabrics I am using, but some of them seem to appear "swallowed up" by the grey background, so I have decided to stitch a row of chain stitch, using an embroidery thread, around the outlines of the vases, 

to give them more definite shape.

It seems to work quite well, I think.....

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020

the last bonus FNwF,

again back at Cheryll's, who always manages to get some of us together, thank you for that, Cheryll!

So, here we are, another week and we will be officially in summer. Spring is usually my favourite time of year, but this year we have missed out on so much of it, although we watched the small steps in the tiny space of our back garden, but no open fields or woods, where we would normally enjoy the arrival of spring...something to look forward to next year........

There was a point during the last few weeks when my brain needed to focus on something totally new, to move forward.

When I came across "Manor House" quilt by Dawn Heese, it seemed just 

like the right project to get into. The original pattern was designed for wool applique, but I much prefer to work with fabrics.

I am not overly keen on dark fabrics, but here it works so well, and not being able to visit a real shop, I spent some time online trying to find the one for the background, one which would work for me - and here it is - from "Winter Garden" range by Lewis & Irene.

At first glance it looks like the whole main part of the quilt is made in one piece, but actually there are 4 very wide parts, joined together.

I started to work on part 3, the actual Manor House, as this is probably the most important section,

and also it is a while since I stitched an applique house and I was looking forward to doing it.

For the main part of the house I used one of Moda Grunge fabrics, which has that nice "aged" look, and another one for the roofs.

So, that was my project for Friday night, 

 to finish this part.

I am using some fabrics, which I would not normally consider as being "me", but I am trying to go with the spirit of the quilt, and I think they work well.

At last we have been having some decent rain during the last few days, which the garden is just lapping up, and everything is looking much fresher, and also the water buts have been replenished.

I wish you a very good week, and be careful out there, it is not over yet!

©pleasureinstitching.blogspot.co.uk 2010-2020